Secret guilt as Kidderminster murderer insisted he loved his wife
Killer Alan Evans said he loved his wife. He even said they were the 'perfect little family'.
But the cheating husband was actually planning to start a new life and a new family with his mistress.
Louise Evans, his wife of 12 years, had been suspicious that he was having an affair for months. She even left him twice.
But Evans had persuaded her to return to the family home, saying he wanted to give their marriage another try.
Cheating husband jailed for life after murdering wife at Kidderminster home
The couple, who had three young children, were reconciled for a family weekend.
On the Monday the couple made plans to see friends that week and even cuddled on the sofa watching Coronation Street starring Evans's actor friend Marc Baylis.
But hours later 32-year-old Louise was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of the family's semi-detached home in Kidderminster.
Within weeks of her death Evans resumed his relationship with his mistress – and months later he was arrested and charged with his wife's murder. A jury today found 35-year-old Evans guilty of her murder following a six-week trial.
The cheat had been seeing Amanda Chadwick, a classroom assistant at a school in Kidderminster where his children were pupils, for months behind his wife's back.
Part-time care assistant Mrs Evans had become suspicious and had told her mother and friends she believed her husband was having a secret relationship.
But all the time Ms Chadwick was trying to nurture her friendship to aid the deception of the affair. She left her welder husband but they were reconciled days before her death when
Evans had said he wanted to give their marriage another try. But even then there had been text messages sent between Evans and Ms Chadwick indicating they were planning a future together.
Mrs Evans had accessed her husband's online phone bill and discovered the messages. Then on July 9 last year, he subjected his wife to 'a serious violent assault' pushing or throwing her down the stairs at their home. He then smothered her before leaving a skipping rope near her body to make it look like she had become entangled in it, the trial at Worcester Crown Court heard.
Evans had then dialled 999 and raised the alarm with neighbours claiming he had awoke to find his wife's body after falling asleep in front of the television on a sofa in the lounge. Next door neighbours Hayley and Charles Weale heard Louise scream and swear at around 10pm on July 9.
They were then awoken at around 11.30pm by an 'almighty crash'. But Evans told police he had not heard his wife fall and said a vacuum cleaner had been at the top of the stairs with its hose uncoiled.
The murder trial was also told Evans had called police for advice on his rights over his marriage break-up on June 28 last year.
And in the weeks leading up to her death, Mrs Evans had planned to confront her husband over her suspicions.
Her mother Judith May Bollen told the court she had arrived at their home saying she had left her husband.
She had carried sheets of paper saying they were records of texts sent between Evans and Ms Chadwick which she was going to confront him with. But then days later Mrs Evans had changed her mind, saying that she now did not believe there had been an affair.
Ms Chadwick first met Evans in the playground at St Mary's CE Primary School in Kidderminster in October 2011.
She said initially they exchanged pleasantries but they soon began meeting after school to take their children for a walk in a local park.
The pair later exchanged phone numbers and began 'flirting' in text messages.
Evans had resumed his relationship with Ms Chadwick within weeks of his wife's death. Ms Chadwick said they had met each other again in 'late July or the start of August' adding: "We knew it was wrong. He knew it was wrong." Evans and Ms Chadwick allegedly colluded to deceive his wife by sending manufactured text messages to each other in late June 2012.
Home Office pathologist Dr Alexander Kolar, who carried out two post mortems on Mrs Evans, said she had suffered a fractured eye socket probably caused by a punch or kick. The cause of her death could not be established but she could have been smothered, he said.
Evans had denied the charge of murder telling the jury he loved his wife and that they were 'the perfect little family'.
He said he had never been violent towards Louise, his childhood sweetheart, and refuted he had killed her. He said he 'never lifted a finger to his wife' and did nothing to contribute to her death.
